Mayoral candidate Gery Chico on Wednesday said he'll hire 2,000 more Chicago police officers if elected, but did not offer specifics on how he'd come up with the money to pay for them.

The former Chicago Board of Education president insisted he would find an extra $200 million over four years for the extra police, even though the city budget has had shortfalls of hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years.

Chico said if he can't rearrange the budget to fund such a hiring spree, he shouldn't be running for the city's highest office.

While Chico talked crime, candidate Carol Moseley Braun headed to Washington to raise campaign cash. Braun, the first black woman elected to the U.S. Senate, was at a fundraiser luncheon hosted by the National Organization for Women.

Braun reported raising more than $100,000 in recent days. Investment guru John Rogers gave Braun $5,000 on top of the $100,000 he donated last year.

She shot campaign ads last week, but is waiting for a cash infusion to air them. Braun reported having only $164,000 on hand to start the year.

Chico has reported receiving $133,000 in donations in recent days. He started the year with about $2 million left.

Rahm Emanuel, who ended the year with $8.3 million in his campaign fund, reported raising $68,500 in recent days.

Several candidates reported donations that run afoul of campaign fundraising laws, including the new restrictions on how much candidates can receive.

Braun reported a $12,000 donation from Larry Ivory, who is the head of the Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce in Peoria. That donation would be $7,000 in excess of the limit she can accept, and the difference is likely to be refunded.

A city contractor, M.A.T. Leasing, donated $5,000 to Chico, but that donation is likely to run afoul of the city's campaign finance law restricting firms doing business with the city to $1,500 in contributions. M.A.T. Leasing is run by controversial trucking magnate Michael Tadin, a favorite of the Daley administration. City records show it won a contract worth as much as $57 million to provide emergency snow removal equipment through 2012.

Chico aides said it takes several days to determine whether the donations are appropriate.